The 8-10hr heat up doesn't surprise me at all, whenever I got out for a neo pie (which sadly isn't very often since moving to cleveland) I'd always try to hit em a little later on in the night after the oven had been fired all day. Seemed like the pies were always better at that point.

Memorial day weekend was spent working on the house, one of those projects was drilling post holes below frost and pouring footers for the oven base. I'll be laying a stone patio which is why there's difference between the footer height and the ground. My father in law was a big help and, we're happy that everything came out level and that the base and footers line up well. I think the low profile of the base is going to look real nice.

scott123

Agreed ! with TX ! mine a bit higher but I am 6'2" and I didnt account for the mortar in all the joint OOPs !

I like the height of your oven, John. I've recently come to the conclusion that proper line of site to the baking pie is more important than potential shoulder/arm fatigue. Breadmakers don't need to see every loaf of bread as they bake, so that's why I think you come across some recommendations such as 'elbow height' on other forums like FB.

It depends, to an extent on door height, but stooping to have to see a pizza while it bakes would be a miserable experience.

I'm flip flopping between feeling totally overwhelmed/in way over my head and thinking this is pretty straightforward and doable...

Before I poured the hearth, 6" of 6:1 perlcrete, i noticed that the footers had settled unevenly during the rains ...

I leveled out the base using some standard brick and 1/4" steel pieces, assured the ground was firm then poured the hearth. So far so good, still level after all the rains. I've poured the hearth and mocked up my soldier course and brick floor which has me super excited about moving forward.

I'm studying the build threads of fagilia, kiwipete and Jeff which are great and I learn something new each read but something that i'm having difficulty finding clarity on is how to determine the angle of the course that sits atop the soldier course. This stuff feels way over my head, or maybe I'm just over thinking it...and mostly it's around the idea of banding as in fagilia's case and how and where the thrust will be placed and how do I make sure my oven isn't going to fall apart.

One thing is for sure though, I'll come away from this experience with a few things learned!

That is a refractory cement designed for normal <1/8" joints. Is is also water soluble which is not normally a problem but may be so in an outdoor oven. You can make it work by adding an aggregate, but your best course is to find a dry mix such as Heatstop, or even make your own homebrew.

That is a refractory cement designed for normal <1/8" joints. Is is also water soluble which is not normally a problem but may be so in an outdoor oven. You can make it work by adding an aggregate, but your best course is to find a dry mix such as Heatstop, or even make your own homebrew.

I'll look into other mortars, hopefully I can find something local.

If I end up adding sand to the mix, how much should it be? or rather what consistency am i looking for? I just read through the 3:1:1:1 thread on forno bravo and i suppose I could shoot for the consistency you have in your demo mixes.

I'm on the home stretch with the oven, I'm way over on time and maybe double on budget—too scared to look at the receipts, ha ha. You'll notice that I made a significant design change, went with a 42" instead of a 36" oven on a ~52" base so I ditched the dome shape and am tracking more towards a larger exterior structure so it can be insulated properly. i cas More photos to come as I make progress. Attached are photos of the progress.